She’s the author of Sex and the City, Four Blondes, Lipstick Jungle and Trading Up.
She lives in Manhattan and seems to know how to tap into the psyche of New Yorkers. She writes about the people, the style and the culture of a city she clearly loves.
Her book Sex and the City became HBO’s TV series Sex and the City with Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda, who inspired women all over the world to dress like them, live like them and be like them. These days, you can do a Sex and The City tour, watch the movie and watch re-runs of the entire series.
The new show Lipstick Jungle is in its second season and deals with Wendy, Nico and Victory balancing high powered careers, children and love in New York.
You get a chance to see a special screening of Lipstick Jungle on the night with new footage and outtakes.
The 2009 Debut Dagger Competition runs from 1st November 2008– 7th February 2009.
They’d like you to send them the opening chapter(s) – up to 3000 words – and a short synopsis of your proposed crime novel, and you could be a published crime writer.
Winning doesn’t guarantee you’ll get published. But it does mean your work will be seen by leading agents and top editors, who have signed up over a dozen winners as well as shortlisted Debut Dagger competitors.
If you are not in the UK, The Crime Writers’ Association recommends you to enter online. Your credit card company will bill you in your local currency and pay them in pounds.
If you prefer to enter by post, they’d like you to send International Money Orders or cheques in pounds sterling only.
Have a look at the other prizes available on this site – and perhaps you can enter a short story, historical novel, non fiction or even enter The Dagger in the Library prize.
Waiter Steve Dublanica has been writing about being a waiter in New York and his blog posts confirm diners’ worst fears.
Yes, waiters do spit on food. If they don’t like you, you do get a bad table or poor service. Or you have to wait hours or are ignored. Or they bring you the wrong dishes.
Some restaurants have database of their customers. They have information from everything like your dining frequency, how much you spend and how much you tip. They know when your birthday is and whether they like you or not.
If/when you do come to what you consider to be your favourite restaurant and you wait hours for your food … chances are you did something the last time you were there.
The blog is quite an aptly named rant, mostly about diners and tips but it has been a very compelling rant. Now it’s in book form and one of the blurbs says that you’ll never dine out again.
This is strong stuff. Especially in light of the recent claims for an Australian family that they were served human faeces in free ice-cream served to them by the Coogee Bay Hotel.
And another blogger has touched enough people and waiters around the world who are all united by the one subject that they can whinge about and often … their customers.
Ten years ago Salman Rushdie went into hiding. He had written a book called The Satanic Verses which caused a violent riot against the book in Pakistan.
The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran and a Shi'a Muslim scholar, issued a fatwa calling on all good Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers, or to point him out to those who can kill him if they cannot themselves. The Satanic Verses, according to Salman Rushdie, is about how Muhammad was tricked into revealing these verses as part of the Qur'an by Satan and he later retracted them, saying the angel Jibreel had told him to do so.
The verses allow for prayers of intercession to be made to three Pagan Meccan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manah. The part of the story that deals with the "satanic verses" in the book was based on the accounts of the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari – I am not sure what this all means exactly, but there was a great outcry when The Satanic Verses was published.
The Satanic Verses is actually meant to be historical research but people didn’t accept this and Salman Rushdie has been in hiding ever since. The Jewel of Medina was written by first time author Sherry Jones. This is also historical research based on Prophet Muhammad’s second wife A’isha (or Aisha) Aisha is much beloved amongst Muslim people and in Islam.
She married him when she was six. She lived with her parents until she was 9 and then lived with Muhammad.
It seems that people are unsure when their marriage was sexually consummated whether she was 9 or a teenager but Muhammad was 53.
Now, this book is meant to be about Aisha. She was considered a jewel, beautiful, young and intelligent. Sherry Jones researched and wrote a book about a young girl married to Prophet Muhammad and what her life was like.
Since the book’s controversial release, Random House has pulled out and Salman Rushdie has spoken up. People are saying that Muhammad was a pedophile and that it is disgusting to consider a 53-year-old man with such a young girl. However no one is sure of the details.
This book is not an insult to Prophet Muhammad nor does it go into the sexual details of their marriage. It is about a young girl who married a great prophet and her life with him.
Aisha has narrated many hadiths – about Prophet Muhammad’s life and is very well known and loved by Muslims.
So the question is, why can we not write freely about all religions? How do people learn about things that happened in history regardless of what we personally think?
If we can write books like The Da Vinci Code which yes did upset some Christians but people did not firebomb book stores or issued a fatwa against Dan Brown.
So, why is it that a book, which is written about someone who sounds like an incredible woman, received so much controversy?
Surely stories are meant to be told and history is meant to be related regardless of the circumstances – lest we forget?
Sherry Jones hasn’t been threatened or issued a fatwah, but look what happened when that Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Click here.
Who are we offending if we want to learn about Islam and the Muslim world? Why are people trying to stop this?
Vega 95.3fm is giving an opportunity to all writers to design next year's 'Girls Night In' TV or Radio commercial.
The 'Girls Night In' concept encourages women to get together with their girlfriends, and donate the money they would have spent going out to The Cancer Council.
The Cancer Council Cancer Council Australia advises the Australian Government to help prevent, detect and treat cancer. They also work on Women’s Cancers (Ovarian, Cervical, Breast, Uterine etc – more than 15 700 women are year are diagnosed with these and other women’s cancers a year).
Tell Vega in 100 words or less, how you think a 2009’s ‘Girls Night In’ 30 second TV or Radio ad should look, feel or sound like.
If your ad is chosen by The Cancer Council, it will get played all over Sydney next year.
If you're in Sydney on 7 November 2008, Valerie Khoo, director of the Sydney Writers' Centre, will be speaking at the Connect Marketing breakfast on "Top 7 tips on getting published online - and how this can boost your business".
Here is some information on it:
Date: Friday 7 November 2008 Venue: Hyde Park Barracks Cafe, Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney Time: 7.15 - 9.00am Cost: $65 Parking: Available on Hospital Drive (metered parking) or at the Cook & Phillip Carpark on Cathedral Street ($5 per hour) Dress: Business Casual RSVP: Wednesday, 5 November 2008
With
people spending an increasing amount of time on the internet, it’s
vital for your business to have a strong online presence. This goes way
beyond having a website – that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you
really want to build your brand, you need to get published online. So
what’s the best way to do this?
Where should you get published and, more
importantly, what should you be writing/broadcasting about? How can you
get people interested in what you have to say?
Valerie Khoo reveals the top 7 tips on how to get
published online and provides real life examples of winning online
strategies. After this breakfast, you’ll leave with ideas on how to
improve your online marketing strategy and how this can boost your
business.
Discover how online publishing can boost your bottom line with:
Your blog – position yourself as an expert
Getting your articles published online
How to write effective newsletters that sell
Building an online audience who want to hear from you
Publishing on your social networks
The power of publishing podcasts and videopodcasts
Two grisly murders in the town of Charlotte leave disturbing clues which might involve Santeria or voodoo or even Satanism.
Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan goes on a quest to connect the two bodies and find the bones while defending her actions against citizens in the town who become vigilantes and begin to interfere with Tempe's work.
With suspicions flying, a politician drumming hatred and accusations and an incompetent police detective, Reichs accentuates the ease of incorporating fear and even hatred against different cultures in this thrilling read.
The book combines murder and culture and looks into a town driven and motivated by fear.
This prize is bought to you by Slim Ink Book Rental which is the perfect way to indulge your passion for reading - whether you are a light, casual, keen, avid or voracious reader!
The latest releases and best sellers in paperbacks can be delivered to your home for a low monthly membership fee that includes reply paid postage.
With everything from the classics to children's books (from 9 years onwards), this is a convenient way to set up your library and select the books you want to rent and how often. There is no joining fee and you can stop receiving books at any time! All that's needed is a credit card and internet access.
The competition closes at 5pm on 12 November 2008.
If you'd like to subscribe to our newsletter and enter the competition click here.
Spring is here which means summer is around the corner. And that means getting rid of the unhealthy habits we picked during the winter months.
Did you know that bad eating habits make you feel listless? And that your skin becomes pasty and you look a bit grey around the edges?
I am sure that I am feeling a bit listless - so I am combating this with drinking water, taking supplements and reading books to boost my energy and health.
I love the idea of thinking positively, getting pampered and eating foods that affect my mood!
Here is a list of 10 energy books for you or for someone in your life who needs a bit of a boost.
Once you’ve got a hold of one of these, let us know how you go?
And tell us which really worked for you?
1. Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman 2. Sick and Tired? by Robert O Young 3. Energy Addict: 101 physical, mental and spiritual ways to energise your life by Jon Gordon 4. Calm Energy: How people regulate mood with food and exercise by Robert Thayer 5. The 10-minute Energy Solution by Jon Gordon 6. 365 Energy Boosters by Susannah Seton and Sondra Kornblatt 7. The Emotional Energy Factor: The secrets high-energy people use to beat emotional fatigue by Mira Kirshenbaum 8. Positive Energy by Judith Orloff 9. Raw Energy by Leslie Kenton and Susannah Kenton 10. Body Energy:Turn it around, start it up, balance it out and re-charge your life by Andrew Nicoletta
Everyone in our office loves the reason behind these awards. It’s all about empowering women!
Closes: Friday 28 November 2008 - except for novels published in December 2008 which have a closing date of Friday 9 January 2009.
This Award is offered annually for "the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society"
The award is valued at $35,000.
Barbara Jefferis was a feminist, a founding member of the Australian Society of Authors, its first woman President and, in the words of Thomas Keneally, "a rare being amongst authors, being both a fine writer but also organisationally gifted. She was a professional and internationally published writer long before most of us dreamed of such things".
The Award is paid from the Barbara Jefferis Literary Fund, which was established by a bequest from Barbara Jefferis's husband, ABC film critic John Hinde, who died in 2006.
The Australian Society of Authors is Trustee of the Fund. The judges are academic Bernadette Brennan, author Nadia Wheatley, and literary editor Susan Wyndham.
Last year's winner, Rhyll McMaster's Feather Man, is a September selection for the American Booksellers Association Indie Next List.
This prestigious listing guarantees promotion in independent bookshops across the United States. McMaster's book sits alongside the latest from such notables as Annie Proulx and Paul Auster.
For more information, full terms and conditions, and official entry form for the Barbara Jefferis Award click here.
He literally lived biblically (We’re assuming The Old Testament) for a year.
This meant following the Ten Commandments, eating and not eating certain food, stoning adulterers … well in his case he used pebbles.
So A.J. Jacobs embarked on living biblically for a year, wearing white and keeping the Sabbath (every Friday and Saturday sunset to sunset, according to Jewish law). His book, The Year of Living Biblically is now out in paperback.
This book has sparked discussions and has received reviews including those who have been impressed that A.J. managed to follow in these times rather difficult and often baffling rules in these modern times.
For many people who have read this, it made them laugh out loud or rethink aspects of the Bible.
What’s even more impressive is that A.J. - much to the horror of his friends and family - tried to follow the bible as literally as he could and has even devised a list of ways that you could live biblically.
Hmmm. I think A.J. Jacobs is a man on a quest. He has written another book The Know-It All about his quest to become the smartest person in the world.
I can’t help liking someone who throws himself fully into everything he writes about!
